As stated in the FAQ "The second decade of the Web has already demonstrated
that patents will be a factor in the ongoing development of the Web
infrastructure."
As far as I am concerned, certainly the last few years, we can
only see numerous examples of the mess that patents are making of
the IT sector. (*cough* One-click-patent *cough*)
There is only one reason for use of patents, and that is to
make money. And while I do not oppose people making money, I do
not want to be forced to pay through the nose as a webdeveloper.
I therefor think that the W3C should keep vital and global
standards free from any such thing.
Also reading through the documentation, I came upon a ton of
"should's", and other vague promises. I do _not_ trust the US
industry to self-police, because patent abuse and other similar
strong-arm tactics are widespread. I do not wish to be locked-out,
locked-in, be NDA'd or be bullied in any other way.
Regards,
Ren Hoek (ren@arak.cs.hro.nl)